"What… what is happening?"
Hamura felt as though his mind was unraveling.
"It's simple. Kyōka Suigetsu. The ability of my blade is to trap people in a permanent illusion. Hamura, I should thank you. If not for your actions, breaking this seal might have cost me a great deal of effort."
Kaede's voice dripped with mockery.
"I'll kill you!"
Hamura roared, reason lost, lunging recklessly toward Kaede.
But in that moment, the entire moon trembled.
The earth cracked apart, the last remaining structures collapsing in ruin.
A terrifying power, suppressed for millennia, surged free from its prison.
From the forbidden land, a brilliant blue pillar of light erupted skyward.
Hamura turned, staring at it, his voice trembling.
"Mother…"
When the light faded, she appeared.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Unchanged from millennia past, draped in flowing white robes, radiant like a goddess of the moon.
Yet her power was violent, seething, overwhelming.
After being sealed away for thousands of years, even one as once-gentle as Kaguya could no longer suppress her hatred.
The fruit of the God Tree had been consumed. At her forehead, a third eye opened—the Nine Tomoe Rinne Sharingan, embodiment of the Tree's power.
"My child… it has been so long. Are you well?"
Her figure flickered, suddenly appearing before Hamura.
She smiled as she spoke, yet that smile sent a chill through the soul.
"M-Mother, I…"
Hamura's voice faltered.
He remembered when she and his brother raised him, teaching compassion, urging them to protect the God Tree, warning them that enemies from other worlds would one day come to steal its fruit.
But then Hagoromo had convinced him otherwise. As children of divinity, should they not share power with the world, so it might protect itself?
He had believed those words. They had given their chakra to humans, watching it spread.
At first, Kaguya said nothing. But later, she forbade them from continuing. Still, Hagoromo persisted.
At last, she fought to reclaim the Tree's power—and for that, they branded her evil, betrayed her, sealed her away.
He had thought distributing chakra would make people noble. Instead, it gave rise to ambition, greed, endless bloodshed.
Disillusioned, Hamura had fled to the moon, leaving Hagoromo to manage the world below. But the shinobi world had only grown more fractured, more brutal. Nations, clans, wars—all of it spawned from the power they had given.
And now…
"Hamura, my child. Why did you do this to me? What wrong did I commit, to deserve such treatment?"
Tears fell from Kaguya's eyes, her expression pitiful.
"M-Mother, I…"
Hamura struggled for words. But before he could speak, Kaguya's hand pierced through his chest.
He had been inhabiting Toneri's body to manifest. With that blow, Toneri perished instantly—and Hamura's soul was forced into the open.
"Mother! What are you doing?!"
His spirit wavered, aghast.
But Kaguya showed no hesitation.
Her hand pierced through him again.
Hamura had no defense. His physical vessel was gone, his guard lowered.
Kaede knew the truth: Kaguya's hand could not destroy Hamura's soul. Only the world's natural energy could erase an Ōtsutsuki.
So, as Kaguya struck, Kaede raised his hand.
Invisible flames of nature's power ignited, consuming Hamura. Wind blades twisted within the fire, shredding his essence.
"Ahhh!"
In an instant, Hamura's soul was annihilated.
Far away, in the Pure Land, Hagoromo's eyes flew open.
He felt it—his brother's presence had vanished completely.
"My brother… damn you, Kaede!"
The Sage of Six Paths ground his teeth in fury.
If not for Kaede, the world would have continued as he had planned. Everything ruined—his vision shattered.
Yet he could do nothing. He was bound to the Pure Land. To descend now would mean certain death, torn apart between his mother's wrath and Kaede's blade.
With Hamura gone, Kaguya's fury slowly began to settle.
She turned, her eyes falling upon Kaede.
For a long time, she simply stared.
At last, her lips moved.
"Kaede."
"Yes. It is I."
Kaede nodded.
From the day she descended to this world until her sealing, five thousand years had passed.
He wondered—had Kaguya changed? Yet the unchanging end of history suggested otherwise.
Still, how could he scold her?
She was a woman betrayed by her own children, imprisoned for five thousand years.
It was nothing but tragic.
"I have waited all this time. From the moment you left… I waited, until now. Finally… finally, I see you again."
(End of Chapter)
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